Once Upon a Ruby Star
by Cattatra
Summary: A storm sends Harry 1000 years into the past. Will a Wandwielding Rowena let him live past their first meeting? Will he get back home the same way he arrived... or will another method be needed? Accidental!Animagus!Harry, Time Travel, PostOotP, Phoenix!H
1. Chapter 1

Once Upon a Ruby Star

**A/N:** I ent dead! Honest I'm not. Writers block has got a firm hold on me at the moment though. It may show in this piece but I wanted the first chapter done coz it driving my brain crazy lol. ANYWAY another new fic from me :D

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Chapter 1  
Thunder and Lightning  
Very Very Frightening

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Harry Potter sat alone in his bedroom at Number Four Privet Drive listening to the rain falling outside his barred window. Locked in his room when he was not doing chores boredom was bound to creep up on anyone. With his school supplies burnt and the promise that he would never return to Hogwarts Harry's holidays were bleak. 

He knew that the Dursley's would have no choice over his schooling when it came to September, but until that time Harry was locked in a solitary hell with only his hated relatives.

His wand was the only thing he had saved. All his other items, his invisibility cloak, photo album, schoolbooks and robes were now ashes. He had only saved his wand by threatening his relatives when they tried to burn it. They had believed him when he said that if they destroyed it they would blow up the entire street.

It was approaching midnight and outside his window a storm raged. It was quite a storm indeed, and if it weren't for his relative's occasional screams of alarm he might have enjoyed it. The weather had been extremely turbulent ever since his return from school, and the TV was at a loss to explain the sudden change from the warmest driest summer to the hottest wettest summer.

Harry couldn't care less one way or another. This storm was just what he needed right now. Lightning struck throughout the town, each bolt seemingly of a strange colour hidden within the brightness. He sat at the window and watched the rain hammer onto the glass inches from his nose. Lightning struck the play park down the road and Harry gasped with delight. His dour, depressed mood was lifting as the storm grew worse. Thunder rocked the house as his relative's screams were lost in the noise.

Grasping the safety bars in front of him Harry pressed his face as close to them as possible and laughed loudly, hysterically, his entire body suffused with energy and delight!

Then ruby red lightning struck the house, and Harry had time to gasp before the world around him exploded.

* * *

He struggled against unseen hands, unrecognisable words fluttering into his brain. Unable to open his eyes, unable to see, he screamed, trying desperately to reach open air, to be able to breath. Red flames licked his skin and burned his soul, leaving him a blackened husk only to be reborn again in painful clarity.

For how long he writhed in the darkness he could not tell, but when he finally woke to bright sunshine and no pain he stared about in confusion.

He did not recognise the house he was in. Lying on a bed in what appeared to be a country kitchen, his mattress made of bird feathers, the world looked nothing like what he remembered it. Gone were the grey tones he remembered, and everything looked bright and fresh. From where he sat he could see out of the window, and he could hear all manner of wildlife chattering outside.

He turned his head sharply when someone entered the room. A young woman entered, her eyes bright and a small smile on her face. When she saw Harry her smile widened.

"Good morning!" she said brightly. "I do not know if you understand me but my name is Helga."

"My name is Harry… where am I?"

She clapped her hands and walked over to the fireplace, taking a ladle and stirring what was cooking in the cauldron. Harry was surprised to see her chattering excitedly to a house-elf before the little creature popped out of the room.

"I don't know what you said young man but not to worry, Higgit is going to get a friend of mine and she'll be able to help I'm sure."

Harry looked at her in confusion. The woman couldn't understand him? He could understand her perfectly. Had the lightning damaged him somehow?

Lightning! All of a sudden his memories of that night came rushing back to him.

"My aunt, where is she? Where are my relatives?"

The woman just came and shushed him, stroking his hair out of his face gently. He grabbed the hand and continued to ask but she shook her head and went back to her cooking.

Harry sat in silence, unable to understand what was happening. When he tried to get up the woman just shooed him back until he sat with a flop.

The clothes he was wearing were not his own, he realised. They were well made and actually fitted him. They were also old fashioned, but then again, most of the Wizarding fashions were old fashioned.

A woman entered the room. Harry hadn't heard her in the house and he jumped out of his skin when she suddenly appeared in his view. She was probably in her twenties and had brown eyes and blonde hair. She and the other woman were of a similar height but this one looked heavily pregnant.

"So you're awake." She said in a firm voice with a faintly Scottish accent. She gripped him by his chin in an equally firm grip and tilted his face this way and that. "Well it's about time. What's your name?"

"Harry, my name's Harry." He said in a muffled voice from her hand. She frowned at him and looked over at the other woman, Helga.

"Nope, I couldn't understand him either."

"Well then, young man whoever you are, if neither I nor Helga know the language you are using then it must be a very remote one indeed."

He stared at these two women in awe. "What the… You really don't understand me?? But I'm speaking English! ENGLISH! The same as you! Harry! My. Name. Is. Harry. Potter. Now do you understand? Harry bloody Potter! The great Boy-Who-Lived!" Sarcasm was evident in his voice as he said this. The two women just looked at him in mild amusement, as he got more and more exasperated.

"Helga, why don't you serve lunch and I'll go see if I can find the translator charm I found a few months ago." The woman pushed herself up carefully and waddled silently out of the room.

"Well now young sir, lets see if you can stand shall we?"

Harry scowled at her and stood on his own before she was halfway to him. He strode to the window and looked out. He didn't recognise the vast wilderness that surrounded the house.

"I wonder if you recognise where you are." She mused.

"No." Harry said glumly.

"No?" Harry turned to look at her with a frown. She was frowning at him too. "Did you say 'no'?"

"Yes." He replied slowly. He nodded for emphasis.

"So you understand us?"

"Yes! I'm speaking English like you are!"

"I only got yes then. Well, it seems you know a little English then. We'll have to teach you it fully if we're going to talk at all. Though maybe we should just teach you Scottish straight out? A fresh start might be easiest for you…" she pushed him into a chair at a large oak table and got four bowls out and set them at the table. They were beautifully carved wood bowls.

Harry picked his up and turned it over, admiring it as he replied. "But I am speaking English."

The other woman had returned while he was distracted, a book in hand. "I think this should have it in it."

"Rowan, the boy understands a little English."

"He does?" that caught her attention. "Those bowls were made by my husband from the Rowan tree that gave me my name before he died. He was gifted with wood to such an extent the royal family became interested in him. Too interested. The village that he was born in lynched him, and now my unborn child and I are left to fend for ourselves."

"But… what about the police? Or the Aurours? They should have saved him!" Harry was stunned. He hadn't heard about anything like that for centuries.

Rowan hummed with a pensive face. "I didn't understand a word he said Helga. Are you sure?"

"YES!" Harry said loudly. "NO! Yes yes yes! Yes I understand! Yes I speak English!"

"Well, he certainly knows yes and no. Lets see if he can say our names. My name is-"

"Rowan! And she's called Helga," he said pointing to the woman who was serving some sort of stew into the bowls

Rowan, who had been leaning towards Harry, sat back and stared at him thoughtfully. When she spoke next her Scottish accent was thick, and only though his years spent in Scotland did he understand what she said.

"Do you think he's a wizard?"

"How else can you explain it? He appears from nowhere in that storm over by the Star Stone. His arrival _changed _the Star Stone! And now we wake to find a young man in our house where there wasn't one before? A young man who doesn't speak our language, who had been in a coma for three weeks, a coma _you _said he should not wake from for over a year. The question is, is he a Wizard born or not?" Helga's voice had taken on a faint Scottish accent too when she spoke, but it sounded slightly rough and halting.

Harry starred between the two women, wondering what they were talking about. He decided to ignore that for now in favour of answering their questions. "I'm a Wizard." He said. "My mum was a Muggle born but my dad wasn't. Listen, I'm confused, and I know you don't understand me, but what happened to me? Where am I?"

Rowan and Helga looked at him without comprehension. "If he is one of the Muggle's then we will get rid of him." Rowan said firmly. She held her hand up as Helga went to speak angrily. "No, Helga. I know you think they're not all bad but I refuse to put my child in danger. If he is a danger to us he dies, do you understand me?" Rowan was standing by this point, her entire body language screaming of anger. Anger that Harry knew was aimed at him, at the Muggle's that had killed her husband and anger at herself. She was angry with herself for having to do this. She was angry that the world had come to this.

Harry blinked and shook his head, suddenly dizzy. What had happened? For a moment when she had looked at him…

"Let us try this charm." Suddenly a wand was pointed at him and a spell shot out the end. He yelled and ducked. The spell had been green, and he only knew of one green spell.

The spell shot over his head as he dived off the chair. He scrabbled over the stone floor to the door to the outside, another spell shooting at him. He reached the door in record time, yanking it open and stumbling to his feet outside. He stared around him in fear for a moment before ducking again and, with his arms over his head to protect himself as much as possible. He stumbled across a beautiful lawn towards a lake.

"Murderer! Muggle!" Rowan was screaming. "Muggle filth!" Spells were shooting around him and he heard Helga screaming at her friend to stop.

Harry's world was spinning in slow motion. He stumbled. The grass was above, the sky below. He rolled; a spell exploded the grass where he had been sending mud all over him. His roll continued until the world was righted and he leapt forward.

And a pair of strong arms caught him, and held him fast.

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**A/N2: **Just a quick note. I get alot of my information from HP Lexicon. Rowan/Rowena is from the glen according to the Sorting Hat, so she's from scotland (apparently) which is why I've given her a scottish accent. Helga is living in Scotland with Rowan and was raised in England (just so I didn't have to meddle with a Welsh accent as well). They're also in Scotland because they are standing where Hogwarts is going to be built (Mini-Spoilers abound btw) which is appropriate with Rowan Ravenclaw being the smart one, the one who wants to teach. If this doesn't make sense then don't worry, its midnight and I'm ready to go to bed lol. I'll read this again l8r and rewrite it probably. 

Oh, and here are what Helga and Rowan look like, coz I mentioned Rowan but not Helga. If you want to know more then ask in reviews, its welcome. Reviews are always welcome.

Scottish Rowena/Rowan? – Brown eyes, blonde hair, medium height.

Welsh Helga? – Green eyes, brown hair, medium height.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN - Sry about the double update, I posted this once and then realised I hadn't checked it through, and then THIS WEBSITE wouldn't let me upload and thier support site was down for me too. Still, here we go :D **

**To the person who asked why they couldnt understand him that's coming up in the next chapter. A big clue is that he can understand them perfectly, so it's not because they're speaking olde English... :P

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Chapter 2

Dream of the ones who came before

They are calling

The arms held him tight and no matter how he struggled he could not release himself.

"Who are you?! Another Muggle! Filth! Rotten Filth!" Rowan was still screaming behind him, now at the man who had caught him. "You dare shield him from me! I shall kill the Muggle's myself Helga!" Another spell launched itself at them.

Somehow he managed to push the man holding him to the ground and the spell shot over them, missing by inches, making Harry's soul bristle with fear.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" The man underneath him was shoving him aside and sitting up, his white shirt covered in grass stains. "WOMAN PUT THAT WAND DOWN THIS INSTANT!" the man had drawn his own wand by now and was pointing it at the two breathless and shocked women.

Harry took a moment to study his saviour, unsure how long he would be safe. The man was slim and tall, his hair a light auburn colour. His eyes were a brilliant green that reminded Harry of his own, but they held not the depth of his own suffering. He wore a green stained white shirt and a pair of loose trousers. To Harry he looked older than the two women, but still in his twenties.

"Who are you?" Rowan said through gritted teeth, her wand switching between the two men on the floor.

"Who I am is none of your concern. What were you doing? Are you Muggle haters? Do you torment this youth for fun?" the man was helping Harry to his feet now, lifting him up as though he weighed nothing.

"That boy is a danger to us all!" Rowan hissed. "He does not speak English and when I tried to cast a spell on him so we could understand him he panicked. If he goes back to the Muggle's then they will come down on us and kill us."

"I'm not a Muggle!" Harry said heatedly. "I'm a Wizard! I'm Harry Potter!"

"My name is Helga, and this is my friend Rowan. What is your name, Sir?"

The man looked at her with scrutiny before answering. "Zalar."

Helga nodded. "Would you like to join us inside, and we can discuss this like adults?" she shot a glare at Rowan as she said this.

The blonde woman turned on her heel and stormed back into the house. Helga watched as Zalar started across the grass to the large house. Harry groaned and stumbled up to the house. "Don't let her kill me!" he said grumpily as he entered the kitchen again.

He slouched at the table as far from Rowan as possible, sitting next to Zalar. Helga shut the door behind herself and turned to the group with a stern look.

"Now, this is what we know about Harry. He can understand a little English, and can say yes and no. Other than that, he has been our guest for almost one year."

A year?!?

"WHAT?" he shot to his feet, stumbling backwards, not noticing Rowan's wand pointing straight at him. "A year? How can I have been here a year? That's impossible! Dumbledore would have found me by now! Who are you, and where am I? What…"

Harry trailed off and fell into his chair. The three adults were watching him in confusion.

"Harry, did you know you had been here for a year?" Zalar asked calmly.

"No." Harry replied, burying his head in his hands, pulling at his hair.

"Harry only woke this morning. Actually, he's been up for about an hour or two at max."

"It seems the boy understands a lot of what we say, Madam Helga, and so I suggest you talk to him as well, and inform _him_ of what has happened since he arrived in your care."

Helga regarded Harry for a long moment before nodding. "I am sorry, Harry. I should have realised myself." Harry nodded vaguely, his head still buried.

Helga was silent for a while, collecting her thoughts before she continued. "As I said, it all happened a year ago. Rowan, her husband and I were here. Rowan's family have guarded a special stone for many generations, and when a new family head comes into power the stone must be attuned to him. The night was stormy and we were all looking forward to getting here and a nice warm fire. The Star Stone was a black stone which reflected starlight even in bright sunlight.

"Before we could get to the stone lightning struck it. We ran to it, dreading what we might find. The stone was split in two, both perfect egg shape's. As we watched one of the eggs began to crack with heat, and then it burst into flames, and a baby bird was left in the ashes."

"A Phoenix egg?!" Harry looked in shock at the Helga. From what he remembered of Hagrid's lesson on Phoenixes eggs were rare, and incredibly sought after by people after the fabled immortality, healing and potion properties of them.

"You know what this bird is called, Harry?" Helga looked at him with a strange curiosity. Harry felt unnerved but nodded warily.

"Phoenix." He said clearly, wondering if they would understand what he was saying.

"A Bennu?" Zalar looked thoughtful. "They are only mythological though."

"Bennu?" Both Harry and Helga looked confused.

"More commonly known as a Phoenix, Bennu is their original name in Egyptian history. Said to be from the heart of a god, they are said to be immortal. But, as I said, mythological."

"Well, not so mythological anymore." Rowan said, startling Harry who had almost forgotten she was there. "It was ill, and we took care of it for a year. Then this afternoon it was gone."

"And in its place… was a young man by the name of Harry." Helga said, looking Harry straight in the eyes.

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**AN Well there you go, should be getting a new chapter up sooner this time. Life is really busy at the moment so its finding a time when I have a quiet 5 minutes that I can focus. Anyway, hope you liked it!**

**Bennu-Phoenix – I may have changed a few things here inadvertently. My info came from Wikipedia late at night and I may have misread it slightly. It said that the Bennu 'serves as the Egyptian correspondence to the Phoenix' which I think means that the phoenix popular nowadays is different from theirs. I think. Theirs was a heron, apparently.**


	3. Chapter 3

Once Upon a Ruby Star

**A/N:- **I want to do many things, appologise for my lack of updates in about 3 years, appologise for the poor quality of this (I'd kina forgotten where I was trying to go with the earlier chapters, and I noticed about three continuity problems just in the first 2) and the fact that I've just sloshed most of this together, if people can review and let me know how bad it is I'll try and tidy it up, but at the moment my head feels fuzzy and I cant focus any more.

Anyway, I'll let you get to the story, but I want everyone to thank Olaf74 and WisdomWriter25 who both today either reviewed or alerted this or both lol, and kicked me out of my slump to do something, even if I couldnt concentrait.

Also, its not been spellchecked properly, nor grammer checked, as I wanted to post it. Pls let me know if you notice anything, otherwise it'll be stuck in it and I'll never realise :D

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Chapter 3

These Answers I'm Needing  
I Guess They're Being Smothered by the Sound

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Harry gaped at the woman. A… Phoenix? Was she nuts?

"How… peculiar." Zalar said after a moment. "I was unaware that they had the ability to transform at all. Perhaps that is why the boy… My apologies, why Harry is unable to speak our language."

"Wait, I'm not a Phoenix!" Harry said with a scowl.

"I wonder… Harry, do you have any memory of your life before becoming a human?"

Harry glared at the man. "Yes. No. I wasn't a bloody bird. It's impossible anyway, Wizards are unable to become a magical creature."

"Maybe you're asking the wrong question, Master Zalar." Helga said, smiling at Harry. "Harry, would you mind washing up for me while I dish up some fresh food?" Harry nodded and collected the spilt and spoilt bowls, taking them to the old sink. As he washed he listened to the conversation going around him.

"From what I have heard and read, I've never known of a Bennu being able to transform into a human, and I've read quite a lot about the species in my research."

"Perhaps it is a side-effect of the magical storm that he arrived in?"

"Perhaps," said Zalar, "Gods do sometimes gift their children with their own form, or beings of great magical power." He added when seeing Rowans' scowl. "Ancient writings indicate that this is similar to the birth of Centaurs, created from the love of a Unicorn and a Human, and Harpys, created when the Goddess of Night fell in love with nihtingales song and wished to give it human voice."

This was news to Harry. Goddesses? Unicorns and Humans... Ick!

Zalar was turning towards him however, and he quickly schooled his features into something less disturbed. "Harry, I want to test how much English you understand, would you please answer my questions to the fullest. For example, if I ask 'What is your name?' you would answer 'My full name is Harry...'. Understand?"

Harry nodded, "Yes Sir." He said respectfully. "My full name is Harry James Potter."

"How old are you?"

"I am Fifteen years old." Well, he guessed that to be true, if he had arrived a year or so ago perhaps he was truly sixteen. He pantomimed 15 fingers as he said the number.

"Are you a Wizard?"

"Oh don't be stupid!" Rowan snapped, making Harry jump. He had almost forgotten the woman was there, glowering over the table at him. "If he were a Wizard why would he have run when he saw my wand?!"

Harry glared right back. "You shot the killing curse at me!" he replied heatedly.

"I'm sorry Harry but I didn't get all of that, can you show us?" Zalar asked mildly, his hand holding a quill, scribbling on a piece of parchment that Harry hadn't noticed.

Harry got up with a huff and looked around. A stick from the fireplace would do as a pretend wand and he waved it while facing his audience. He remembered this game from school, and while he had never been able to play it well, he'd watched enough to know how it worked.

"Wand!" He said clearly, theatrically presenting the 'wand'.

"Stick?" Zalar supplied. Harry shook his head hard and waved the wand, making whoosh whoosh noises, a little embarrased. "Wand?" Harry almost poked his eye out with the stick in his right hand, which was trying to point at his nose, while pointing his other hand at Zalar.

"Rowan's Wand?" Helga asked, pointing at the wand still held in the blonde womans hand.

"Yes. Rowan. Wand." He waved the stick, then pointing it at himself he said "Whoosh Whoosh!" and fell down as if dead.

"Rowan wasn't trying to hurt you, Harry, she was going to put a translation spell on you so we could understand you." Helga said gently. "We aren't evil witches like in the stories, we're good people."

Harry slumped, then pointed at both women, "Witch, Witch. Whoosh Whoosh?" he added at their blank looks. They nodded, and he pointed at Zalar. "Wizard, Whoosh Whoosh?" he nodded too. Harry then pointed at himself and said "Wizard, Whoosh Whoosh!"

"You _are_ a wizard then, Harry?" Zalar confirmed. Harry nodded.

"So why did you run when Rowan tried to use the spell?"

After thinking for a moment Harry looked around. Over a chair nearby was a green shawl. He picked it up and waved the wand over himself. "Whoosh Whoosh, yes!" he mimed a big grin, then again waving the wand but this time adding the green he said, "Whoosh Whoosh, NO!" and fell down.

They all looked confused. He waved the green shawl coming from the wand, but still they looked confused. He looked at them all for a moment before going outside, pointing at the holes where Rowan had missed him in his mad dash and made the green spell/shawl go from the wand to the holes, with a loud "BANG!" and a 'Fall down dead'.

"The spell that Rowan used here was different Harry." Helga pointed out.

Harry nodded impatiently, though he had to admit the woman hadnt used any words either time and he hadnt seen the colours of the spells out here, then did 'wand no green "BOOM!"' followed by 'Wand and green "BANG!"'

"Are you trying to say you thought the spell Rowan used first was a spell like this? Perhaps the boy sees Aura's around people? I've run across it a few times." Zalar said doubtfully.

Harry, who had nodded at the first part, shook his head and mimed the green from the wand.

"The spells Aura?" Zalar finally said with realisation.

Harry frowned but shrugged. He'd never heard of Spell Aura's, but if that was what it was called then so be it.

"I've got a theory. Pheonix' are said to be born from the heart of a god, and from what you tell me this rock seems to fit the bill of ancient magical artefact, if not definatly a god heart. And, from what I have been able to understand from Harry's speach patterns and theatrics, he understands all we say. Harry, _can you agree that what I said is true_?"

"Yes, every word!"

"In that last sentence I put in three different languages, and you understood me, Harry, and you have been speaking in at least five identifiable languages, and a few I've never heard nor read the like of. The Phoenix, or Bennu as you called it, is a creature from the Birth of Time. They are considered mythological for this reason, as there have not been any since the Birth of Magic, the latest age, and are considered to be the reason magic exists in the first place. Why, or how you came to be is a mystery, but if we can help you to speak one language at a time perhaps you yourself can tell us. As it is, we seem to have no way of knowing." Zalar looked thoughtful and then sighed. "I shall have to look into it furthur, it has been a long time since I researched this area."

They all went back inside and sat down.

"Harry, I am sorry, I hadn't meant to scare you when I used that spell on you." Rowan looked somber as she spoke. "I've not heard of Spell Aura's, but if the spell I used looked like an evil spell to you then I understand your reaction, and I appologise for mine."

Harry looked at her and nodded slowly. He still didn't quite know what was going on, but he hoped to be able to talk to them soon and find out everything he could about where he was, and, it was dawning on him, perhaps 'When' might be a good question.

While outside he had noticed a strangly familiar lake, mountains and suspicious signs of a small collection of houses, or, perhaps, what could be called a village in the distance.

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**AN2:- **I cant ask enough for reviews, as I'm hoping it'll mean I write more tomorrow after work (18:00 GMT :D)


	4. Chapter 4

**Once Upon a Ruby Star**

**A/N **Well here's another update, not too long after the last one. Its small again, but I'm more able to focus today so hopefully it makes more sense. Let me know about any questions you have; I might have them answered in my head but not realised they're not on 'paper'.

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**Chapter 4**

Forever Young,  
I wanna be Forever Young.  
Do you really wanna live Forever?

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A week had passed, and little progress had been made. Zalar had managed to pinpoint a few words that he could understand, and Harry used these as often as he could. The small cottage, comfortable with just the two women, was uncomfortably crowded with four.

Zalar, he had explained, had come to the area for its 'rich magical history' and the two women had invited him to stay with them during his research, with the added bonus of a translator for Harry. Harry wasn't sure what the man was researching, but it meant the man would disappear into the hills in the afternoon and not return until late some evenings.

Helga had spent long hours sitting with Harry, explaining all about herself and Rowan, and always busy with cooking or sewing. Her family was from Germany originally, from what Harry could gather, and had moved to Wales two generations back. They had had to flee however when she was a young girl when Banshee creatures had crossed the water from Ireland and destroyed many coastline villages. They had settled north, and she had met Rowan as a young teen.

Rowan, she told Harry, had had a hard life. A noble born young woman, at a young age she had been cast out for her 'witchery', and had escaped only due to her maid's unwavering loyalty. She had stumbled across the hamlet of 'Hogsmead', and settled there for a few years, until she had met Helga, and then moved in with her best friend.

When Rowan was out one day Helga quietly told Harry that Rowan's husband was the Lord of the cottage and surrounding lands, having duelled an evil wizard when he was fifteen years old and won, and the two had been inseparable since. Though not told in so many words, Harry had a vague, but disturbing impresion that the evil wizard had had an unsavoury interest in the then thirteen year old Rowan.

Then, on a warm day with a slight breeze in the air, Zalar came in while the three were sat at the kitchen table working on resizing some clothes for Harry, who had been making do with oversized clothes from Zalar and Rowans husband.

"Harry, here, I have made this for you. I think it should work well, Rowan gave me the core from your transformed form."

In his hand was a wand. Harry looked at it, stunned. It was Ash, slightly thicker than a normal wand and about a foot long, and the wood had been delicately carved, and then singed, with a picture of a Phoenix, wings raised high overhead as if in flight.

"I found the reference to Bennu, Phoenix. They were the messengers of the gods in the times of the God-Kings of Egypt, and were the children of Gods, specifically these God-Kings, and died when the last Pharaoh-King did, supposedly joining their Fathers in the afterlife rather than live alone. When I realised this I looked up any reference to them being capable of transforming, but found only one mention.

"Apparently one God-King died, and the Phoenix that was born of him was the only decendent. Because of this the royal sourcerers sacrificed many subjects and slaves, and their own magic, and transformed the hatchling into a human child.

"The child was killed by a contender to the throne before he reached his majority however, and the magic seemed to have been unstable, with him being a very sickly child. And no Phoenix was born from his mummified body, so it was assumed he was not a true God-King, and his tomb was hidden away.

"But, like all God-Kings, he was a Wizard, and that picture was engraved on the staff he used. I thought it appropriate that it be on yours too."

Harry took the wand carefully, shocked. The information, the care to detail, the fact that this man, essentially a stranger to him still, had gone to all this trouble and care just for him, awed and humbled him.

With care he gently waved his wand. A stream of gold and red flew gently from the tip, floating up and around the room. For a moment he thought he had seen flames rippling round the doors and windows, but within the time it took to blink the flames, and the stream of colour, were all gone.

The three spectators had all gasped during the display, and now all looked at him. Helga seemed to have tears in her eyes.

"That was beautiful, Harry. Thank you." She said, seemingly full of emotion. She dabbed at her eyes and then turned back to her sewing.

Rowan, who had sniffed in a ladylike manner, also thanked him.

"I had some help," Zalar admitted as he sat down. "A friend of mine is a wand-maker, and I asked him how best to engrave it without damaging it in any way. I said nothing of you, only that I had a wealthy customer who had learned of the God-Kings and wished for a wand comparable to their might." He shrugged. "Oberon didn't believe me, but then again, I don't always believe him when he needs help."

Harry thanked the man, and though the language barrier was still there, Zalar smiled and told him not to worry. "If I hadn't done it," he said later that night when they retired for the evening, "then I would have been driven mad by weeks-out by my nightmares."

Harry thought it cruel of the man when he diliberatly couldn't understand Harry's questioning of that strange reason.

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**PLEASE REVIEW!!! Seriously, I had hoped for loads of reviews straight away from the last chapter, and I got loads of story alerts but little feedback, and I REALLY need it at the moment as I'm low on enthusiasm and Reviews with Questions and Ideas are a great motivator :)**


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